Embracing a New Diet

The last few days I have been reflecting on my life, and seeing some areas that I need to affect change.  I guess you could say I am in a season on repentance, changing the way I think and then the way I act. The verse that I have been thinking about is from Paul's letter to the Romans 12:2 NIV: "Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is---his good, pleasing and perfect will."

My realization was that I was allowing the world to affect how I thought, and that in areas this is counter to the Word of God.  A.W. Tozer talks about the importance of how we think in his book, "The Knowledge of the Holy".  He says, "What comes into our minds when we think about God is the most important thing about us" and I believe he is correct.  I found that I was allowing the culture to impact my thinking in ways that were causing my thinking about God to be affected.  Tozer diagnosed a similar problem in the church, and wrote about it as follows - "The Church has surrendered her once lofty concept of God and has substituted for it one so low, so ignoble, as to be utterly unworthy of thinking, worshipping men. This she has done not deliberately, but little by little and without her knowledge; and her very unawareness only makes her situation all the more tragic." (Tozer)

Personally, I realized that I was allowing my thinking to become more conformed to the pattern of the world, and that I was allowing this to happen through my appetite for information.  I have always been a reader, and one who loved to gain knowledge and understanding, and the internet has brought access to pretty much everything right to my phone, pad and PC.  I have never been a big fan of TV, considering the time I sit in front of it a waste of time, but found myself spending considerable time browsing the internet instead.  My thinking was that that I was gaining information, and thus not wasting time, which is just a rationalization.  The truth in my life was that I was giving my time and mind to things that are not really valuable, encouraging, or uplifting. Rather than engaging my sweetheart in conversation, I was staring at my phone, scrolling through instagram photos.  Rather than reading some of the books I have that would encourage me in my faith, I was browsing through people's facebook updates.  Rather than spending time in prayer, I was catching up on the news and happenings in our world.  No one thing was necessarily bad, but overall it was slowly drawing my mind away from the Lord and things that are truly valuable.

It is interesting how easy it is to conform to the pattern of the world, when one allows one's mind to be open to the images found in the world. It is said that a picture is worth a thousand words, and thus my browsing through photos, memes and reading things that captured my attention was filling my mind with tons of things, words and images that were distracting to my heart's desire for more of God.  The saying 'we are what we eat' can be applied to our appetite for information and entertainment as well.  Much like my sweet-tooth, I find that I have an unhealthy appetite for pretty much any new information, and was allowing this appetite to affect my thinking and perspective of the world.

In conclusion, I have decided that the right thing for me is to embrace a new diet, one that limits my intake of information, and the type of information.  In much the same way as someone who has Celiac's disease must change their diet to become healthy, no longer eating certain things that taste good, I find that I must change my diet of information to become more healthy.  I want to choose wisely what I am consuming, not just allowing the social media outlets to deliver a never-ending flow to my mind.  I want to choose who and what I put into my mind, and not allow some social media algorithm to choose what I consume.  I have more than enough good material, if I am hungry for new information, and have several books that I have been intending to read.  I have more than enough significant and important people to spend time with in real life, rather than just perusing facebook updates.  I can have meaningful conversations with family and friends, investing in relationships rather than in entertainment. I can always spend more time in prayer, allowing the Lord's word and touch to renew my mind.

Lord, please help me and give me wisdom.  I want to make this diet my new life pattern, and not have it be just a few day program. I want to renew my mind, renew my thinking and be  conformed to You alone.

Amen!